Moments :: 2.8

Change of Plans

2010-07-05T16:22:00.002-06:00

The plan was to shoot a pie eating contest. That was cancelled so I did what I wound up doing all day, shooting features. When looking at the big picture throwing a bunch of features of the 4th of July throughout the Magic Valley isn't really a bad way to go. Gives the reader a little snapshot into the lives of communities. While almost nothing went according to plan on Sunday, I think the paper had the opportunity to run some really nice general art. In the end I was content.

Cowboy Up

2010-07-05T16:20:00.002-06:00

An outfielder dives for the ball, and yes he caught it. Shooting the outfield is often tough but I liked this one enough to throw it up here. Twin Falls ended up winning the game.

4th of July 2010

2010-07-05T16:13:00.002-06:00

Game Plan A: Shoot parachuters raining down upon the masses and nail a vertical fireworks photo. Deadline 9:45 pm. Problem with Plan A is parachuters got cancelled due to liability issues I was told by CSI Security detail and the fireworks weren't taking place until 10:20 pm.

Plan B: Shoot the band playing on the CSI campus. Problem, band was done with their sound check and not playing until 9:15 pm. Not enough time for a turnaround (keeping in mind I have no way to transmit from location)

Plan C: Shoot vertical features....done.

Diamondfield Jack

2010-07-05T16:11:00.002-06:00

Went all the way out to Albion with one of our new reporters Laura and I made this image of Spencer an eight year old that participated in a look-a-like contest. The whole community came out and had a grand ole' time while listening to bands and eating greasy food.

Rural Fire

2010-07-05T16:06:00.002-06:00

Chalking it up to T-storms there were a number of fires last week. After noticing smoke about 2 miles away from where I live I did what any photojournalist worth a damn would do. I grabbed my gear and scoped it out. Here are two that I sorta liked. I turned in another one with flames for the paper.

Wet and Wild Regatta

2010-07-05T16:01:00.002-06:00

This was my second year covering this little gem. Still ran into some of the same issues such as why my name was left off the media list again and how could I forget sun block. While my action images were no better then last years I do feel I got better feature images so I guess I'm headed in the right direction. It was great to get outside and get paid to do what I love.

Canyon Jam

2010-06-22T12:15:00.002-06:00

Top image is one of the first I shot and it's what ran. I like the moment and the fact it shows location. The second image implies what the event is suppose to be, good times with friends. While the third is a bit cliché I like the waterfall in the background and the fact it shows that unlike the top image there's more than two people there.

Catch

2010-06-22T12:13:00.001-06:00

I rarely get shots at home plate period. While this is certainly not the best I've seen it is one of my better ones at the plate. Plus, to catch a catcher without his mask is often a feat in my mind.

Wild Horses

2010-06-22T12:09:00.002-06:00

Wild horses being tamed. I have mixed feeling on the subject. Apparently while being wild they have limited food sources but at the same time I think as a person I would rather be free I guess it's sorta like the difference between Capitalism and Socialism. Be free and risk or be comfortable and assimilated. Let's hope these guys at least find good homes.

Splash

2010-06-22T12:07:00.002-06:00

It's that time of the year again when kids get out and get wet. This was a camping story I covered with intrepid reporter Ben Botkin. Good times.

ReMix

2010-06-22T12:02:00.002-06:00

It felt like a little Deja Vué considering I had just covered the CSI graduation at the exact same location. Not to mention another reporter had shot another ceremony at the college the day earlier. So this is the third graduation at the same location in one week. While it was nice to know my angles it was also a challenge to try and find a new and unique perspective. I figured I had to jump into the trenches and try and find some sort of emotion. I think I found it with this image. I remember thinking about all my friends and where they were going to end up and doing many of these same high-fives 11 years ago. So I ran with this.

Field Trip!

2010-06-22T11:53:00.002-06:00

This was great stuff. Talk about shooting fish in a barrel (pun intended) While it took me way back to go on a field trip with third graders it was weird to have the parents there being my age. It's odd to think I'm actually old enough to have a 9 year old. Anyways, after the fish hatchery we went out to the fossil beds and once again had a blast digging up fossils with a beautiful over look. It was a great day to be a photojournalist.

Reaction

2010-06-22T11:49:00.002-06:00

I decided to combine these images into one post for obvious reasons. The top one didn't run even though its a jubo image of the winning team. No matter I like it and here it is, granted I'm not a fan of the back of the head but oh well. As for the bottom image I got a call from my former photo editor out of Idaho Falls and was asked to cover my old high school rival the Bonneville Bees. They lost.

Shootin' Birds

2010-06-22T11:45:00.002-06:00

Once again shooting birds from inside my bedroom with a 300 2.8. While I quickly slapped the lens on I went straight to shooting, ignoring one of the earliest rules my high school photography instructor taught me. While I did have my gear within 5 feet of me I didn't have it set up for immediate shooting. I had covered a low light assignment earlier and hadn't reset my ISO to a reasonable sensitivity. Hence, outdoor bird photos at 1600 ISO. lol.

Otto Pilate

2010-06-22T11:43:00.002-06:00

Outside of terrible light this band was awesome to cover. I shot their practice in an old theater behind a local bar. I later watched them perform to a full crowd a week later.

Truckin'

2010-06-22T11:40:00.002-06:00

While I was on limited time due to deadline this was a great little event to cover and all the drivers were really cool albeit upset at times due to their times. All in all it was a nice night out.

Iraqi Grub

2010-06-22T11:37:00.003-06:00

Had the op to try a bunch of amazing traditional Iraqi food the other day with our awesome feature reporter Melissa Davlin. I was trying stuff I would normally shy away from but while she couldn't eat most of it for health reasons I got to enjoy some amazing dishes. Normally due to ethics I wouldn't touch food but it was cleared and encouraged by the bosses that be which eased my uneasiness.

Business of Baseball

2010-06-22T11:32:00.002-06:00

While being a pitcher is certainly an A-Type personality usually this guy was having fun during a laid back practice slanging typical baseball slurs at his jovial teammates but once on the mound he was all business. I was able to get a few pitches out of him before the manager started getting concerned and cut my shoot short.

Geriatric Skydiving!

2010-05-24T09:49:00.002-06:00

Jeanne Meyer, 70, jumped out of a prop plane for her birthday as some of her closest friends came to watch. Her husband may have been there as well but apparently no one told him what she was doing. When asked about it she sheepishly grinned and said "Oh, he'll find out about it tonight on the local news" which of course got me and Benito (KMVT reporter) laughing our asses off. Good natured and strong spirited Meyer's had a great time and so did I. Thanks.

Line of Sight

2010-05-24T09:42:00.002-06:00

I've covered frisbee golf before. I've covered golf before. I've covered tournaments before. I have not covered a Frisbee Golf Tournament before though and while in doing so I was cussed out by this group of golfers for being in their line of sight. That's a new one for me especially since I was using a 300mm about 20 yards away from the bucket. See with Golf you're not supposed to shoot before the golfer makes contact with the ball, hence why golf shots are sometimes Extremely boring. While these guys didn't give a damn about me shooting through their throw they did care about being able to see me while doing it. Well, lesson learned guys. Thanks for not kicking my ass because I know that one of you was thinking about trying. :)

Ground Breaking

2010-05-24T09:37:00.002-06:00

No Golden tipped shovels here! Apparently no one told these high schoolers with the Youth Council that a ground breaking was just a bunch of old dignitaries with shinny shovels performing a PR stunt. These kids were Breaking Ground for real. The reason you may ask is why and the answer is for a new BMX track on the south side of town. A pretty cool thing for some pretty cool kids.

CSI Graduation

2010-05-17T12:45:00.005-06:00

Even while I had to cut it short due to deadline I still ended up with enough images for a slideshow. I didn't turn in many of these because I thought they didn't tell the story as well other more mainstream graduation images did so I'm sharing some of them here. If you've been following my blog for over a year then you may remember the fact that I didn't attend my own college graduation and so when I go to these events I get a kick out of the look of accomplishment on the students faces.

Softball Mayhem.

2010-05-17T12:42:00.002-06:00

While it was a botched play it made for a chaotic shot which I don't always get during a game.

Taking out the Trash

2010-05-17T12:38:00.002-06:00

Talk about spring cleaning, I covered another clean-up story. Around a dozen people showed up in the early A.M. while the wind howled and the cold was bitter and picked up tons of trash. To keep from freezing I jumped aboard a new front loader and rumbled along for the ride.

Mother's Day

2010-05-17T12:37:00.002-06:00

Shot some of my Ma's tulips for a Mother's Day present. Wish I had a real macro. Oh and as for a side note I used a flashlight to illuminate the images so I could kill off the rest of the background along with a little help in curves.

CSI Car Show

2010-05-17T12:34:00.002-06:00

Can't say I've ever shot an indoor car show, unless you count that time I was 12 at the Salt Palace in Utah. For the first student run show I would say it turned out to be quite the success. Oh and I had fun playing cat and mouse with the cute Army Reserve girl as well. :)

Johnny Horizon Day

2010-05-17T12:32:00.001-06:00

I don't know where the name comes from but a lot of people get off their laurels and clean up the roads on Johnny Horizon Day.

A Bird and its Nest

2010-05-08T18:30:00.002-06:00

Outside one of my bedroom windows there's a tree about 5 feet away with a nest in it. Well, I finally got a shot of its tenant with a 300mm from inside the house.

Future of Soccer

2010-05-07T16:09:00.002-06:00

This was my first experience covering a Youth Soccer Goalie Challenge and let me tell you it was entertaining as all hell. Watching these kids run around in a game half soccer half dodge ball was great fun and fairly easy to shoot.

LoveBirds

2010-05-07T16:08:00.001-06:00

Jon and Amanda are having a baby. Jon has been a close friend for years now but it was a real pleasure getting to know Amanda. Made my trip to Utah well worth it.

Weeeeee!

2010-05-07T16:06:00.001-06:00

I was down around SLC a couple of weeks ago and popped off a couple of shots downtown.

Walkabout

2010-05-07T16:03:00.003-06:00

Took a little stroll around Buhl, Idaho a while back with my trusty P&S and came up with a few diamonds in the rough so to speak. It was throughly a good time to get out and about and finally get a good look at my surroundings.

A Window of Utah

2010-04-26T10:58:00.003-06:00

Spent a few minutes with the trusty 80-200 2.8 shooting through the window on my way to Utah this past week. This is my edited down selects. Whether you love or hate Utah those mountains are epic. P.S. None of these are really straight images if you were wondering. Oh, and number 2 is by where I used to work.

Poetry Cowboy Styliee

2010-04-26T10:53:00.002-06:00

Cowboy Poetry Baby! This wasn't my first rodeo (pardon the pun) but it never gets old photographing raw poetry talent and drunk cowboys and cowgirls.

2 on 1

2010-04-26T10:46:00.001-06:00

While two on one is usually a good thing for the two it didn't work out in this case. They caused each other to error and the runner made a clean slide.

Gun Slingers

2010-04-26T10:42:00.002-06:00

After hanging out with Guys in Kilts I got to hang out with Cowboys with Guns. Quite the day. This was a lot of fun to see how my reaction time was with getting peak action of a quick draw. Not bad but tough to be spot on. Plus the light was horrible in this shooting range. Nonetheless I had a hell of a day between learning the history of Scottish games and learning how wild the West really was. It was a great day to be a photojournalist.

Scottish Highland Games

2010-04-26T10:39:00.001-06:00

This was a practice for the upcoming Highland Scottish Games being held in Twin Falls. It was great hanging out with these guys and the ribbing that they all gave one another.

Medal of Honor

2010-04-26T10:36:00.003-06:00

A naval officer who has long past finally gets the recognition he deserves after saving many of his fellow seamen during a battle in WWII. It took place in a little town but the church it was held at was overflowing with support.

Back to Square One

2010-04-13T10:35:00.004-06:00

Twins Falls baserunner gets back to first base during a game against Minico. During the game I noticed people chillin' out behind the right foul line so I decided I'd go back there and hang out for a bit. Now, I haven't shot from this angle in years usually cause I can't get to it or I'm not really allowed back there but I had what I needed so I headed back there to mix things up. I was really happy with this image at this angle but it ran small, dark and B&W which is fine but it just didn't look good when it ran so I'm giving it another shot in color on your computer screen. :)

Hardball during Softball

2010-04-13T10:33:00.001-06:00

Great to see two highly competitive teams duke it out on the diamond. They split the series if I remember right.

Community Service

2010-04-13T10:30:00.002-06:00

Due to budget cuts many of the state funded parks are in jeopardy of being shuttered this year. Well, the communities surrounding these natural treasures weren't having it and everyone from bikers to boy scouts showed up to get their hands dirty and plant some trees and do their part. It's nice to see diversity come together to accomplish problems.

Strike!

2010-04-13T10:28:00.001-06:00

Granted there's no face but I like the position of the ball and the clean background.

Hillcrest Class of 1999

2010-04-09T23:23:00.004-06:00

It's not perfect but I tried to clean it up and tone it some. Click on the image and then right click and you should be able to download it. It is however a copyrighted image from Panoramic West I do believe so you'll need to contact them before printing it legally. -DG

P.S. I'm toward the top on the right wearing a yellow hoodie with blonde hair. :)

1976 ReDux

2010-04-08T18:28:00.003-06:00

Apparently no one told the class of 1976 that school was out. After a bunch of them got together on Facebook they decided to have a mini reunion and go vandaliz....I mean paint the rock in front of their old school. Considering the superintendent was part of their class I'm sure no one will get into trouble on this one and therefore the paper was invited to join in on the fracas.

MJ Session

2010-04-08T15:20:00.004-06:00

These are some really bad scans of a 120 shoot I did back in 2001. These were the days that no digital camera could come close to film yet. Granted even today digital still can't really beat a 6X7 120 but who's shooting 120 anymore? I asked around yesterday on where the closest lab was to get some prints from 120 done, yeah try 250 miles. Anyways, going through the archive and coming across these made me think of a simpler time, a time when I didn't have deadlines and the only thing I cared about was getting a cool composition and a crazy lighting ratio. My advice to the veteran shooters out there if you're in rut, take a look at your earliest work and rekindle some of that passion.

The Chosen One

2010-03-12T11:55:00.002-07:00

Top and bottom images are of baseball's "Chosen One" as seen on the cover of SI a while back. His name is Bryce Harper and he is a prodigy. CSI held their own though and beat his #1 in the nation Nevada team once out of four encounters. Interesting story and it was nice to get outside on a nice day not to mention getting play with some angles.

Boxers

2010-03-12T11:53:00.002-07:00

When in Idaho Falls I often stay at a friends house who has two boxers. His better half asked if I could shoot some pictures and being the nice house guest that I am I obliged her. Here's two from the take.

State Wrestling Vacation

2010-03-12T11:46:00.002-07:00

I was offered an assignment to cover the Idaho State Wrestling finals in Pocatello a while back and figured it was a good excuse to visit my Alma Mater along with making it a mini vacation to Idaho Falls. Here's some of my favorite jubo, action, and feature images I shot of the event.

Intro/Outro

2010-02-22T15:52:00.002-07:00

Top image is of Josten Thomas, one of CSI's top players. Due to violation of team rules the man-child was not allowed to play in Saturday's game against NIC. I always wonder what "Violation of Team Rules" means. Did he get arrested? Maybe he just pissed off a coach. Who knows, either way I think the general public probably assumes the worst which is why I just wished the college would come out with the real reason instead of burying it in jargon.

Image two was taken during a really cool pre-game introduction to the likes of which rivals Utah Jazz games. TV guy and I both got goose bumps during it. Image three was a stall tactic for me making a dumb mistake. I sat at the defensive side of the court at the beginning of the game and instead of wasting valuable shooting time I decided to shoot on that side for a few moments waiting for a foul to take place in order for me to move to the other side.

The bottom two images were just moments that I liked so here they are.

Cardinals Vs. Eagles

2010-02-22T15:46:00.002-07:00

You ever wonder if teams mascots could really do battle, which one would be left at the top of the food chain? Anyways, after an extremely long day Friday (15 hours) I was worn out pretty thin for my two night games. I did my best but mediocrity crept in a little I think. It was that or the fact my batteries were fading and it was affecting my AF. Either way here's two I liked.

General News

2010-02-22T15:30:00.002-07:00

This was about as general as General News can get I think. A glorified Ribbon-Cutting ceremony with Dignitaries, a newly Constructed, Educational, "Green" building, and a self-guided Tour. All of which are considered general news on their own let alone combined all into one. I had so many theme images I really had no clue what to turn in. With no knowledge of what the angle was I finally called the reporter and asked, he was so burned out on covering the new building he didn't really care and said just go with the cool architecture. So after turning in several different images including "cool" architecture the desk ran this top image five columns with no secondary art.

"Butch"

2010-02-22T15:23:00.002-07:00

Hazelton, a small town in Southern Idaho became the "Capital for a Day" on Friday and the Governor with most of his cabinet were in attendance. This was my first time meeting Idaho's Governor and he seemed like a fairly down to earth kinda guy wearing blue jeans and a big cowboy belt buckle. I worked the scene like a typical photog, shooting wide at first and slowly working myself closer to the front row. Once in front and while the Gov. was talking about tourism in Idaho I noticed he was wearing a Park City, Utah belt buckle and had to make this photo. It didn't run and I almost didn't even turn it in but I was in a giddy mood and figured what the hell. Once I made the second image during a recess I knew I had what I needed and headed out.

Hospital Tour

2010-02-15T02:41:00.002-07:00

While images 1 and 3 are tweaked number 2 is straight as an arrow. For the first one I had to snag a quick self-portrait, number 2 was graphically cool I thought while 3 was a huge mistake with my exposure. I had went from a very dim hallway to a very brightly lit cafeteria. lol.

Flag Burner

2010-02-15T02:36:00.002-07:00

Sure, my title makes it sound like I've got some anarchists burning old glory but it's all about the boy scouts on this go around. Bottom three images are straight while the top one is still only one image I've de-saturated a portion of it making it an illustration. Normally I hate shooting outside in the wind but for something like this it was a blessing.

Portrait of Self

2010-02-15T02:32:00.003-07:00

Ingredients: Boredom and a $420 flash that has a repeater function to it. I had tinkered with the RPT mode and the Hz on my flash in the past but it had been about 3 years so I figured I'd better reacquaint myself with it. Now that I have I've got a few fun-filled ideas to play with. Wish me luck.

A Red Hat

2010-02-15T02:27:00.003-07:00

Alright, for one I'm on a dual B&W/Color kick as of late. Two, I've been really playing with some off camera flash, even through I only get about 3 feet out of my cord. Three, I know I don't have any detail in the eyes which as we all know are the gateways to the soul and all that jazz but at least I have a glimmer of a catch light right? :)

Until the Cows come Home

2010-02-15T02:22:00.002-07:00

I was doing a quick test to make sure the glass on a 1.4 tele I picked up was good. I ended up taking a picture of my neighbors. Side note: I decided instead of going into LAB to turn this into a B&W I would use a {Black and White} adjustment layer. I think I may adopt it as my new way of going that route, lots of control over how the image converts.

High Dynamic Range

2010-02-15T01:07:00.003-07:00

I know this isn't the best image. However, it has become my first example of using the HDR technique making this a "standard dynamic range" photograph. Basically, when I tried to expose for the sky I was underexposing the foreground and my flash just wouldn't pick up the slack. So I decided to stand really really still and do some bracketing. In post I simply overlapped the two images and well, you know the rest. I never ended up using the image in print for a variety of reasons. Was it ethical? Was it really even good enough to run? Etc etc... Anyways, toss me some feedback people. Have you ever tried it? Do you recommend it? Questions, comments, concerns are always welcome. :)

Box your Ears

2010-02-07T12:20:00.003-07:00

I hadn't shot amateur boxing since high school so this was a lot of fun for me. Due to deadline I was only able to shoot the first two and a half bouts but I came up with so many usable images that I ended up putting together a slide show. My only regret was not being able to shoot the entire event and capture audio along with it.

Coffeehouse

2010-02-07T12:17:00.002-07:00

This was a last minute assignment I was given but I thought it went quite well. Nice little coffee joint at the college. Might be a nice place to tune up images if the need arises.

New Moon

2010-02-07T12:14:00.001-07:00

After shooting the moon assignment I decided I'd destroy the straight image and mix it up a bit. This is what I came up with on the fly.

Moonshine

2010-02-07T12:09:00.002-07:00

Assignment: Photograph the moon because its the largest it will be all year. Now, I was given the assignment long past the time it was coming over the horizon so I did what I could. To be honest I had never really went out of my way to shoot the moon so I googled what the exposure might be. 400 ISO, 5.6 @ 1/2000 of a second. After making some equivalent exposure adjustments I came up with these images. I found trying to find a good WB was difficult but si la vie. Overall I enjoyed getting out and shooting some night images, just wish it had been on some 120 instead of digital.

Swimming Along

2010-02-07T12:04:00.002-07:00

So the public pool puts a huge bubble over the whole pool and it makes the light just nasty in there. Never mind the humidity. No matter though this event is put on by the YMCA so once again it was put together extremely well. Always a pleasure working with those guys.

The Game

2010-02-07T12:02:00.001-07:00

Just another game but boy was it sure fun. Some really nice action along the wings. I can't believe I get paid to do this stuff.

We Are Heroes

2010-01-20T18:14:00.002-07:00

Well, it's no David Archuleta at a Jazz game but it's the next best thing I suppose. "We Are Heroes' is a dance group who has apparently garnered national attention on television for their routines. The girl on the far right is a native of Twin Falls and she wanted to show the rest of the gang what Idaho is all about I guess.

CSI Vs. CNCC M BB

2010-01-20T18:11:00.003-07:00

I was happy with this shoot. Granted I may not have gotten any portfolio images out of it but I had plenty of images to work with. The crowd was bigger than usual it seemed and I had trouble getting some of the angles I wanted. (Stupid spectators) :) No matter in the end I got what I needed.

Behind the Scene

2010-01-20T18:04:00.002-07:00

So after hearing more than my share of horror stories over the past few weeks on photo gear turning up missing I decided to finally scout out the media room at CSI. Turning the corner on my search I came across these images. Couldn't decide which one I liked best.

As for the media room, I found a huge door that said, "Media" on it and once inside I found the only plug-in and it was in the worst possible spot. Ended up pulling two chairs together one for a table and the other to sit on. It was ridiculous to say the least but at least I wasn't overly concerned for my gear anymore.

Sports Feature (sorta)

2010-01-20T18:01:00.003-07:00

I was shooting overhead when I turned and saw this image. I ended up e-mailing it to the mother who works at the college I was shooting at. Never hurts to kiss a little ass right?

Aggressive Women's Basketball

2010-01-17T10:02:00.002-07:00

Can anyone say "eye gouge"? Granted it still may not be as good as Detrick's image but I'm getting closer. As for the game, it wasn't even close. CSI blew CNCC out of the water by around 30 points.

Wrestling Galore

2010-01-17T10:00:00.001-07:00

Shot some wrestling in Buhl, Idaho. Outside of draining my batteries nothing really exciting happened.

Water Coloring

2010-01-17T09:58:00.002-07:00

Figured I'd have some photoshop fun after playing with a vase, water and food coloring for a while. Thought this one created a unique view.

Selected.

2010-01-17T09:54:00.002-07:00

With almost no one in the stands I figured I'd still have a fairly clean background if I switched up my position for a while. Here CSI takes on Idaho Select which turns out to be a bunch of ex college has beens who seem to think they still have what it takes to competitively compete.

Rorschach test redux

2010-01-08T02:10:00.003-07:00

This little 30 minute project was SO much fun. Got the idea when I googled "creative still camera techniques" Watched a quick 7 min. tutorial, changed the things I didn't like in it and went from there. Once in photoshop I got the idea to make it like an ink blot only it's a "smoke blot". What do you see?

Basketball Angles

2009-12-28T15:10:00.003-07:00

Here in the Gem state refs apparently are not used to having photographers at their games. Sure, in the Bee Hive state refs always got in the way, we all have that immaculate shot only to be ruined by a refs leg. But here in Idaho it's something else. ALWAYS, in the way and on top of that I've never been stepped on this much. You may ask yourself, "he's too close, just scoot back" well, I have. I'm actually up against the wall. I sat closer at Jazz games. So, in the spirit of mixing things up and getting unique angles I've begun trying new positions all over the gym. It's fun, safer, and most of all a little different.

KidO

2009-12-22T23:51:00.003-07:00

So...Yeah....I covered an assignment on putting down carpet. Then why do you ask do I have a small child in the picture? Well, because she was cute and curious about what it was I was doing. So I snapped this image and gave it to her mom as a thank you for letting me into her home for awhile.

Wrestlemania

2009-12-22T23:47:00.003-07:00

Covered wrestling for the first time in a long time. Nothing really new here, got to hang with the sports guy who kept me really up to date with everything. Only covered 4 matches but received solid photo play. I guess I could mention how it was nice not to have 20 parents who all think they're photographers in my way. So yeah, overall it was good day.

Girls and their Basketball

2009-12-16T13:53:00.002-07:00

Intense game considering I only shot 8 minutes of it. Top image is classic Jerome defense while the other is the closest thing I've come up with in comparison to Chris Detrick's award-winning eye gouge shot. Be sure to check out his blog under my "peers" tab.

Funeral of a Garbage man

2009-12-16T13:51:00.002-07:00

Interesting twist on a very common cultural tradition. Burial. Shot some video of this event as well.

New Ride?

2009-12-16T13:49:00.002-07:00

Santa showed up at the Magic Valley Airport in a helicopter and treated disabled children to his lap and candy-canes. I won't lie, I did a lot of blinking back tears on this one, very emotional day for those kids and their smiles.

It's Here

2009-12-16T13:47:00.002-07:00

Winter that is. I didn't have any assignments for the day which was odd, so I took the liberty to shoot a quick weather feature. Barns liter the countryside out here in Buhl so it doesn't take much to find one. This shot is taken two steps out of the front door.

Game On

2009-12-16T13:45:00.002-07:00

Tough and Physical, that was the name of the game. Between afros and tattoos this was an action packed game. Wish I could have stayed for the whole thing.

A kitty kingdom

2009-12-16T13:39:00.002-07:00

Took me awhile to find this place. Out in the middle of no where this was one man's kingdom. The story was how feral cats keep down the mice population out in the country. Without staging anything this is what I was able to come up with in about 20 minutes of shooting. I was picked up in the dirt driveway by an ATV with a roof on it. The inside was littered with Bud Light cans as the cowboy said, "I don't know what you want to shoot, but here I am". I smiled and replied, "Don't worry bout it, take me to the cats!"

Black Friday

2009-12-14T14:22:00.002-07:00

Sorry I didn't get these up earlier. Getting up at 3A.M. sucked. Hell I didn't even get to shop. No matter it was fun to hangout with shoppers and drink hot coco in the wee hours. I got to go through the fire escape door in order to get ahead of everyone. Good times.

Trout Capital

2009-12-03T20:25:00.001-07:00

A somewhat informative shoot with nice light. Everyone was really nice and it wasn't nearly as fishy as the processing plant I worked at up in Alaska.

Almosts

2009-11-25T14:09:00.003-07:00

I usually never post images that I wouldn't run in the paper but taking after my friend Trent Nelson I decided I'd show a few of my "what ifs". The reason for doing this is too help illustrate my struggles of shooting a one body 2.74 MP camera during a basketball game. You see when shooting 2- 8+MP cameras you have a combination of lens selection and MP cropping power. In my case I have to pick and choose when I slap a 300 2.8 on. The images you see here are all with an 80-200 whereas in the past I would have had the 300 to my eye. On top of that with no real cropping power let alone with an ISO boost these images simply fall apart when cropping which of course wouldn't have happened at all had I had the correct lens on at the time. You see I'm considering purchasing another D1H to fix the two body problem. The question is am I simply putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound?

Trailhead

2009-11-23T10:30:00.001-07:00

Kirklyn Smith honored his old Scout Master by naming the trail he started as a boy scout after him. I liked the image in B&W, the color one has a really nasty orange stake in it.

JC Ballin'

2009-11-23T10:21:00.003-07:00

These guys are pretty good, a bit lazy at first but they finally really stepped into rhythm. I could be off but most of these guys could be playing at Division 1AA schools with their skills. As I was shooting the team there was only one white guy and he was riding some serious pine. Got me thinking what it would be like to follow an all black basketball team in a predominately white/hispanic state. Self segregation? An overabundance of camaraderie? I wonder if they're treated like superstars here in Idaho whereas say Georgia they'd be just another basketball player?

Refs EVERYWHERE!

2009-11-23T10:18:00.001-07:00

The dance team apparently decided to dress like the refs for the day so I couldn't help seeing stripes everywhere. Maybe next time I'll do a group photo with all of us.

A whole new basketball world

2009-11-23T10:11:00.002-07:00

I quickly realized how much I miss a two body system. I quickly got bored just shooting with the 80-200 once I had what I needed. I was inspired by the one and only Scott Strazzante with the top shot. As for the game itself I had a great time and was impressed by the level of competition at the NJCAA level. The bottom image was an example of the trade-offs of having kids as a sports fan. I can see the conversation now, "Sure honey you can go to the game, just don't forget to feed the baby!"

Tear Down this Wall!

2009-11-23T10:07:00.002-07:00

This gentleman took a sledgehammer to the Berlin wall back in 1989. His ex got the piece piece of history in the divorce. Nice guy, great story, but no visual aids for the shoot other than a printer sheet of a photo he was able to get. We do what we can.

Sunset

2009-11-10T23:38:00.002-07:00

I finally decided to try a quick and dirty panoramic shot with my P&S Nikon. Used the nifty software that came with the camera too. Turns out it's super simple and fun to boot. Plus, by putting 3 full res images together I can print these puppies HUGE! I can't wait to try another one more seriously. Watch out!

Diving Volleyball

2009-11-10T23:37:00.001-07:00

Yeah, so still no portfolio VB shot. I decided I'd get one dive photo no matter what at this game.

Halloween!!!!

2009-11-10T23:34:00.002-07:00

I was apparently the Halloween guy this year. Actually I've been the Halloween guy since 2005. This was however the first year I didn't shoot a creepy cemetery illo just tons of haunts (4). This is my favorite image I shot on Oct. 31st though. I was only about 2 feet from this little girl as I snapped away and she simply didn't care. Love it when that happens.

Cheerleader

2009-11-10T23:31:00.002-07:00

The college of Southern Idaho has 10 male and 10 female cheerleaders currently. The guys do all this really cool tumbling while the girls just kinda stand there. It's a really weird situation they have over there whereas I'm so used to almost no guys and girls tumbling this way and that as I almost get kicked.

Haunted?

2009-11-10T23:29:00.002-07:00

Got to cover a possible haunting at an old school (now a museum) near Twin Falls. Shooting was tough but it was a fun assignment. I mean who else gets to go to haunted building legally and get paid?

H1N1

2009-11-10T23:27:00.002-07:00

I'm sure many of us are shooting this story this year. Here's what I got. Hindsight tells me I should have worked the moments a little more after I saw what Djamilia Grossman captured with her work. Be sure to check out her blog. (on my blog roll)

Albion Grounds

2009-11-10T23:20:00.002-07:00

Wow, this little adventure scared the hell out of me. I didn't even know this woman was real until I started shooting her. Now I've shot haunted mazes/buildings before but I've always gotten there early and eased my way into the old pagan culture of demons and ghosts. Usually it's cracking jokes with the werewolf before the show starts while sitting at one location and working the living daylights out of it. This time around I went with the reporter (and her husband) and while she wanted to go through as a participate I tried to capture as much of the atmosphere as I could while I was screaming, crawling and even getting tagged in the groin by a ghoul. As they say, a new twist on an old story.

Faceless Football

2009-10-29T16:46:00.003-06:00

This isn't the ideal image for print but I liked the gritty rawness of the scene, the attempt at the strip and the power of the running game. Sums up high school football with two faceless players grinding it out.

Lights Out, Camera On, Be Still!

2009-10-26T02:22:00.002-06:00

I felt the urge to take a couple of shots tonight and this is what I came up with. Thanks Djamila for giving me the idea. The first one are Buhl, Idaho's town lights that I shot while jiggling the camera. 3 sec. f5, 1600 ISO, 50 mm. The second is an old chili plant I found. Odd, I know.

ICON

2009-10-21T17:14:00.003-06:00

This is a 13th century icon in the Russian Orthodox Church. Told to be one of the most sacred ones too. It was really cool to feel the energy of close to 100 people pouring into a small room to kiss the Mother of God icon and I'm glad I could be a part of it as it reaches through history on it's way to SLC for a spell.